


Two Men in the West

by Anonymous



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), UnDeadwood (Web Series)
Genre: Feels, Free Verse, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Poetry, Romance, don't mind me I just write poems about fictional characters, drabble?, idk I've never posted anything before, it's mostly v Soft, the formatting looks weird but that's just how my poetry Is, this is just something short and sweet I wrote ages ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28868640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A poem, reflecting on our favorite relationship between the preacher and the outlaw.
Relationships: Matthew Mason/Clayton Sharpe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Anonymous





	Two Men in the West

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is exactly what it says on the tin. I wrote this poem shortly after Undeadwood finished, and I've been sitting on it ever since. Figured I might as well see if any of y'all were interested! But yeah, it's literally just a (slightly pretentious) poem about Feelings. Enjoy! Or don't. Up to you!

One man in a bar,  
wearing a scowl and a pair of revolvers,  
nursing a drink at his seat in the corner,  
watching with sharp eyes the movements around him  
and keeping the light at arm’s length.  
A man in a bar,  
wearing a coat that he doesn’t dare shed,  
because hanging his hat would mean  
putting down roots,  
and that would mean danger, for him and for others,  
and running again,  
leaving blood in the dust behind him, and it’s just better  
for everyone  
if he remains a stranger.

One man in a church,  
wearing a scar and a clerical collar,  
praying to a God that he’s desperate to believe,  
preaching to a town that despises his presence  
and keeping an eye on the doors.  
A man in a church,  
sweeping up ash and repairing the pews,  
rebuilding his life the best that he can,  
putting down roots despite the resistance,  
despite the weight of the blood on his hands and the guilt in his heart,  
hoping to chance and to prayer that it can’t catch him here,  
hoping to give stability to this town  
and to his soul.

Two men in the West,  
bearing the weight of the lives that they’ve lived,  
their pasts looming large and lurking on the horizon –  
one ready to fly at the sight of it,  
one readying to stand and meet it,  
both unwilling to let it define them,  
neither certain how to manage it.  
Both trying to start again –  
whatever form that takes.

Two men meet –  
by chance, by fate, by God,  
who can say –  
they meet, thrown together by a strange man  
to protect a strange town from a strange threat.  
Given unnatural gifts to fight unnatural enemies,  
two men must come to terms  
with themselves, with each other, with the others fighting beside them.  
This is new territory, in more ways than one,  
and they all must choose how to take it,  
how to make it theirs.

Two men in the West  
must decide what they want –  
whether they’ll allow their past shadows to obscure their present potential,  
whether they trust enough to allow for vulnerability.  
The man from the bar is afraid,  
too cautious and haunted to let himself breathe.  
The man from the church is patient,  
gently establishing a presence of peace.  
One tries, makes an effort to push past his own boundaries,  
believing it’s worth it.  
One waits, not pushing the growth that he sees,  
reassuring – it’s worth it.

Two men come together,  
a commitment to love in a town full of hate.  
It took them some time  
to gather enough of themselves to share with another,  
but together they stand,  
supporting each other as best they know how.  
One keeps a hand to his guns,  
prepared to defend the other as needed  
in a way that’s never been necessary before –  
he’s so used to solitude, and it’s nice to have someone worth protecting.  
One lifts his eyes to the sky,  
exulting and thanking his Lord for this gift,  
this trust and love he never expected –  
he’s so used to suspicion, and it’s nice to have someone believe in him.

Two men become one,  
despite all the odds, despite all their past,  
and are greater and softer and stronger because of it.  
Two men become one  
and stand together against the night.


End file.
